Begum Hazrat Mahal

Begum Hazrat Mahal (1820-7 April 1879) was the Begum of Awadh and a leader of the Indian revolutionaries during the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny.

Biography
Muhammadi Khanum was born in Faisalabad, Awadh, India in 1820, and she was a courtesan before becoming a concubine (begum) of the King of Awadh Wajid Ali Shah; she was then given the name "Hazrat Mashal" after the birth of their first son. In 1856, the British annexed Awadh and exiled Wajid to Calcutta, after which Hazrat took charge of the affairs of state of Awadh. During the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857-1858, Hazrat Mahal sided with the Indian revolutionaries against the East India Company, as she was opposed to the British Army's demolition of mosques and temples to make way for military roads, their consumption of pork and wine, and their attempts to spread Christianity and English culture to the Indian people. She was forced to retreat after the British recaptured Lucknow and much of Awadh, and, after the rebellion's failure, she was forced to flee to Nepal. She died in 1879.